With the reluctance of NATO and the US to firmly commit to defending Russia's former Soviet Subject states against the potential of Russian aggression, is there the possibility of those states banding together for their own mutual defense? It seems to me that this would politically avoid seeming to justify Russian fears of Western nations messing with "their" turf, while a mutual defense agreement would be a strong hedge against Russian aggression by preventing a divide and conquer approach by Russia against the neighboring countries.